


Sometimes, You Can Get What You Want

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: First Kiss, Flirting, Getting Together, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, arthur can be stubborn, cobb is a good friend, eames is a flirt, giving in to the inevitable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fighting for what you want is all well and good, but often patience leads to the same result.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes, You Can Get What You Want

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2010.

Later, when he had the chance to think it over, what Arthur would be most annoyed at was the inevitability of it all. He and Eames had been push-pulling towards this for a long time now, since their first job together when Eames had come in, all brash exterior and bawdy jokes and ruthless efficiency. And there was nothing Arthur found sexier than efficiency.

There'd been touching, and Eames' version of flirting, but Arthur had stoically ignored it and it seemed that Eames had fallen into it out of habit, rather than desire on their last job. And besides, they'd all been a little preoccupied in not getting killed for anything to happen.

Not that Arthur would ever let anything like that happen on a job anyway, his little kiss with Ariadne aside. He only had to look at Mal and Cobb to see what perils lay there.

He sighed, his forehead puckering. That wasn't fair. He'd always got on well with Mal. And he missed Cobb; they hadn't worked together on every job they did, but enough for it to feel like a piece of him was missing now Cobb was enjoying his retirement.

“You look like you're having unusually deep thoughts, even for you.”

Arthur looked up and let the surprise show on his face. “What are you doing in Beijing?”

Eames sat down in front of him, unasked, and motioned for the waiter to bring them both a drink. Arthur was only drinking water, which he was sure Eames knew already, but he didn't complain when the bottle of wine made its appearance.

“Same thing you are, darling. Reaping the benefits of being on the only team to ever successfully complete inception.”

Eames smirked and Arthur fought very hard to clamp down on his need to return it. Eames shook his head and sipped at his wine. After a moment Arthur did the same.

“Not that anyone knows what we did,” Arthur said pointedly.

“Oh, quite,” Eames replied, his smile growing wider. “All just speculation.”

Arthur shook his head. For all the secrecy and cloak and dagger rigmarole they went through, the world of extraction and now, inception, had more gossips than a boarding school.

“I'm flying out tonight,” Arthur said after a moment. He wasn't sure why he was explaining anything to Eames, but Eames had the habit of making him forget himself.

That's what made him dangerous.

Eames just looked at him. “Do you have a room here?”

Arthur was about to deny it and grasp back some of his dignity, when Eames dangled a key card in front of his face. Arthur patted his jacket pocket and then scowled. His key card then.

“You're worse than a child,” Arthur told him. He moved to grab the card out of Eames' hand but Eames was too quick and deposited it in the front pocket of his own jacket.

“How much do you want it back?”

Arthur stood up. “I'll just tell them I lost it.”

Eames mock pouted. “Honestly Arthur, I used to think you'd be fun, if you just loosened up. Now I don't know what I ever saw in you.”

Eames' words stung, though Arthur did his best not to let that show. “I have fun. Just not with you.”

He turned around as he prepared to back away, eyes automatically scanning the crowd. Which is why he spotted the gunman, and Eames didn't.

“Down!” he shouted, turning and knocking Eames to the floor as bullets ricocheted around them.

“Bloody hell,” Eames cursed, twisting around and joining Arthur in crawling towards the exit. There was no other sound except gunfire and screams for an excruciating minute and then nothing but silence.

“They here for you or me?” Eames asked as they slipped outside, running at full tilt down an alleyway that lead to the main shopping area.

“Me,” Arthur said without hesitation. “We need to split up.” Eames shook his head. “Eames, they don't even know who you are. You need to leave.”

Eames hesitated a moment and then nodded. “Fine, go. Just be careful.”

Arthur nodded distractedly and removed his jacket, throwing it into the nearest trashcan, following it with his tie. Then he scrubbed a hand through his hair and Eames had to admit, it did make him seem completely different. Younger. And then he was gone, merging into the crowd with surprising ease.

* * * * * *

Arthur was sipping a latte in a cafe in Paris the next time he saw Eames. The man was just like a bad penny, always turning up when he was least wanted.

“Still in one piece, I see.” Eames sat down unasked and ordered a cup of tea and a croissant.

“Just a misunderstanding,” Arthur said. “It's all sorted now.”

Eames smiled. “Glad to hear it.” He took a bite of his croissant, and a long gulp of his tea and then turned his chair slightly away from the table, so he could look at all the people milling by. “You know, you forgot something in Beijing.”  
  
Arthur frowned. He couldn't think of a single incriminating item he could have left behind. “No I didn't.”

Eames huffed a small laugh. “Yes, you did.” He stood up, pocketed his croissant and finished his tea in one long gulp, nodded goodbye and then walked away.

Arthur sighed. Trust Eames to leave without paying. Then he spotted something Eames had left behind on his chair. The hotel key card.

* * * * * *

“Little small for you, don't you think?” Eames asked, and Arthur absolutely did not jump as the man sidled up right behind him.

“It's Phillipa’s birthday next week,” Arthur replied, taking the bright yellow dress off the hanger and walking over to the cash register. He felt Eames' eyes on him all through the transaction, a prickle along his spine he told himself firmly to stop enjoying.

“How is Cobb doing?” Eames asked him as they stepped outside.

Arthur glanced at Eames but it seemed like a genuine question so he responded in kind. “He's doing better. He's started designing again. Real houses,” he added at Eames surprised expression.

“Are you going to try and get him back on a job?” Eames asked. He had a disapproving expression on his face that Arthur didn't much care for.

“He won't stay away forever. But it's his call.” Arthur had already said as much to Cobb and they'd agreed not to mention it again.

“Hmm,” Eames replied. “Are you flying out tonight?”  
  
Arthur glanced sideways at him. “I'm on my way to the airport now.”

“Need any company?”

“No,” Arthur replied.

“Too late.” Eames pulled out a printed copy of a ticket. “Fancy joining the Mile High Club?” he asked as he whistled for a taxi.

“What makes you think I'm not already a member?” Arthur asked. Eames was so surprised he didn't move and Arthur took the taxi for himself.

Eames got to the airport ten minutes later but Arthur wasn't on the flight he was supposed to be and Eames found himself in the States with no real idea what to do, except follow through and head to Cobb's.

* * * * *

“And you just left him there?” Cobb was saying. There was silence punctuated by the sounds of a kettle boiling.

“What else was I supposed to do?” Arthur asked.

Eames froze. He knew that in general eavesdroppers never heard anything to their advantage but the only way to prove a rule was to experience it for yourself.

“You'll give in in the end,” Cobb said, a fond smile in his voice that Eames had never heard before.

“That's not the point.”

Eames frowned, unsure of what to make of that particular conversation. He'd arrived at Cobb's house and seen Arthur's profile through the kitchen window. Without even really thinking about it he'd hopped the gate and sidled down the side of the house, nearest the open window.

“Are you lost?” A voice asked and Eames nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Bloody hell, Miles. When did you learn to be so quiet?”

“Same place as you did, son,” Miles replied. “You coming in?”

Cobb and Arthur peered out of the window.

“How long have you been there?” Arthur asked.

“Not very long,” Eames said quickly. He didn't like the way Cobb was looking at him so he looked over at Miles, who looked equally disapproving.

“You better come in,” Cobb said.

And so he did.

* * * * *

“This is all very cosy,” Eames said. He was looking around the room, at the toys scattered where they'd been dropped, at the wrapping paper piled in a corner, at the two children chasing each other around the room and the way Arthur smiled when they suddenly turned and jumped on him, calling him “Uncle Arthur” as if he were part of the family. Which Eames supposed he was.

Cobb handed him a beer. “Break his heart and I'll break you in two.”

Eames blinked. “Break who's....” He was silenced by Cobb's glare. “I wouldn’t.”

Cobb regarded him blankly for a moment. “See that you don't.”

* * * * *

Arthur was sitting outside, enjoying the sounds of the crickets chirping and the birds heading home to their nests. The sun was starting to dip behind the trees, casting an orange glow over the garden. It looked as beautiful as any dreamscape.

“Mind if I join you?” Eames asked. He was hovering in the doorway.

Arthur extended his hand in a benevolent wave and Eames sat down. They sat silently for a long time just staring out straight ahead.

“Where's Cobb?” Arthur asked eventually.

“Reading bedtime stories,” Eames replied. “They seem like good kids.”

“Yeah,” Arthur smiled. “They are. You know I was there, when James was born?”

Eames shook his head. He hadn't heard that before.

“Yeah, Mal wasn't due for another month and had insisted on keeping an eye on us while Cobb did his last job for a few months.” He shook his head, his eyes going distant as he sank back into his memories. “It was supposed to be a routine extraction, but the Mark's projections were vicious bastards. I got my throat cut. I woke up to find Mal's waters had broken and Cobb still had three minutes on the clock. We were in an abandoned building next to a nursing home, so I ended up getting one of the nurses to help me deliver him.”

Eames smiled. The image of Arthur and Mal delivering a baby while Cobb slept nearby was certainly an interesting one.

“He warned me off you, you know?” Eames said. “That first job we did together.”

“He did?” Arthur frowned. “And of course you ignored him.”

“Of course, love. Goes against my better nature to resist temptation.”

“You have a better nature?” Arthur asked, small smile tugging at his lips.

“I have a lot of things,” Eames whispered, leaning over and kissing Arthur softly.

Arthur groaned. Inevitability had never tasted so good.

“Why don't you show me exactly you've got?” he breathed into Eames' mouth.

“I'd love to,” Eames replied and pulled a willing Arthur into his lap and a more vicious kiss, which Arthur returned with everything he had. They stayed like that, locked in a battle of warring tongues and grasping fingers for a long time, sending each other over the edge more times than they could count.

Knowing that they would do it again and again and never get tired of it.


End file.
